The Hangover Part III Review

Rated R (Pervasive Language including Sexual References, Some Violence and Drug Content, and Brief Graphic Nudity)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 40 Minutes

Cast-

Bradley Cooper-Phil Wenneck

Ed Helms-Stu Price

Zach Galifianakis-Alan Garner

Justin Bartha-Doug Billings

John Goodman-Marshall

Ken Jeong-Leslie Chow

Melissa McCarthy-Cassie

Heather Graham-Jade

Sasha Barrese-Tracy Garner

Jamie Chung-Lauren Price

Gillian Vigman-Stephanie Wenneck

Jeffrey Tambor-Sid Garner

Mike Epps-Black Doug

Directed by Todd Phillips

The Wolf Pack are forced to work with gangster Leslie Chow if they are to save Doug in "The Hangover Part III."

Note: Screened on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at Regal Union Square Stadium 14.

Hollywood has always been about chasing the almighty dollar. When director Todd Phillips' R-rated comedy "The Hangover" arrived in theaters back in summer 2009, Warner Brothers was so confident that the film would be a hit at the box office that they green-lit a sequel two months before its release. Although the studio's prediction proved to be correct, the film's final worldwide tally of $467.5 million (that's thirteen times its production budget) still came as a total surprise. Audiences as well as critics fell in love with Phillips' film (79% on Rotten Tomatoes) so naturally, a sequel was made in the hopes that lightening would strike twice. Due to the goodwill generated by its predecessor, 2011's "The Hangover Part II" debuted to a massive $135 million over Memorial Day weekend…but there was one problem: the film was terrible. Of course, it still made giant piles of money ($586.8 million worldwide) yet all Phillips did was just copy-and-paste the story from the original while only changing the setting from Las Vegas to Bangkok. Making matters worse, he replaced the comedy with shock value antics that were often mean-spirited, vile, and offensive. Despite its negative reception (34% on Rotten Tomatoes), Warner Brothers moved ahead with a second follow-up. Given how bad "Part II" was, there's nowhere to go but up for "The Hangover Part III" and while it is an improvement thanks to its bittersweet tone, there's far too little laughs here for this third (and supposedly final) installment to qualify as a comedy.

Now off his meds and left to wallow in his own stupidity, forty-two-year-old man-child Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis) causes a colossal traffic accident on the freeway after he accidentally decapitates a giraffe. This incident proves to be too much for his exasperated father Sid (Jeffrey Tambor) and he soon passes away from a heart attack. After the funeral, Alan's brother-in-law Doug Billings (Justin Bartha) decides to set up an intervention and invites the rest of the 'Wolf Pack,' schoolteacher Phil Wenneck (Bradley Cooper) and dentist Stu Price (Ed Helms), to lend moral support. Although Alan is initially resistant to the idea of going to rehab, the three friends manage to convince him that he needs help. Riding with the Wolf Pack one final time, Phil and his pals drive Alan to the rehab center in Arizona but they are ambushed along the way by ruthless drug kingpin Marshall (John Goodman) and his enforcer, Black Doug (Mike Epps). Marshall informs them that four years ago, gangster Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) stole $21 million in gold bars from him. Now he wants it all back and since Alan has been in constant contact with Chow, Marshall demands the Wolf Pack  to locate him and the gold or Doug will be killed. Finding themselves caught in an outrageous situation once again, Phil, Stu, and Alan set out to capture Chow and return to the city where it all began…Las Vegas.

Aware of the complaints that "Part II" was nothing more than a lazy carbon-copy of the original, Todd Phillips makes a radical departure from the formula established in the first two entries with "The Hangover Part III." There may not be a wedding or missing night but the characters are still forced to deal with the consequences of their actions, only now they're all sober. Once again written by Phillips and Craig Mazin (whose credits include "Superhero Movie" and February's horrid "Identity Thief"), the film starts off on a promising note, opening with a chaotic prison riot set in Bangkok where flamboyant gangster Leslie Chow makes his escape, Shawshank-style! The scene then segues to an excited Alan Garner driving along the freeway with a giraffe in tow but his happiness is short-lived when the animal is decapitated under a low bridge, resulting in a major traffic incident that leaves his father furious. It's as shocking as it is hilarious (made funnier due to how oblivious Alan looks), with Phillips straddling the line between bleak and humorous when he subsequently kills off Alan's dad while his son sits in smug silence, listening to Billy Joel's My Life on his headphones. A number of off-putting comic moments follow such as Alan beautifully singing Ave Maria but the laughs unfortunately begin to peter out once the Wolf Pack hits the road. With "Part II" and now "Part III," Phillips continues to completely misunderstand why the first film worked so well. It was never the formula, or Alan, or even Chow; it was the easy camaraderie between the three central characters. By focusing so much on Alan and Chow, Phil and Stu are reduced to being tagalongs with little to do.

Given his over-the-top nature, Chow is a character that's best utilized in small doses. His expanded role here quickly gets on your nerves. In fact, the whole Tijuana segment where he tries to retrieve his gold with the help of the Wolf Pack grinds the film to a halt due to how dull and unfunny it is. A return to Las Vegas restores some of the manic energy and luster from the original, complete with a nail-biting scene where Phil and Alan try to infiltrate Chow's penthouse suite in Caesars Palace. The story makes every effort to provide a sense of closure and packs in a number of nostalgic callbacks to the previous entries (including an appearance from a four-year-old 'Carlos') but it is surprisingly the character moments that save "Part III" from being a total disaster. Phillips manages to create a sense of genuine poignancy with Alan's maturation and even throws in a romantic interest in the form of Cassie, played by Melissa McCarthy. The last twenty minutes certainly goes big as a coked-up, parachuting Chow leads Stu on a merry chase through Vegas, which has never looked so colorful thanks to Lawrence Sher's excellent cinematography. Although "The Hangover Part III" never quite recaptures the magic of the original, its final scenes prove to be a fitting conclusion to a series that sadly became a victim of its own success.

The entire primary cast return to reprise their roles for one last time but a sense of weariness pervades some of their performances. Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms appear stranded in the film, with the former looking completely disinterested as he goes through the motions. Zach Galifianakis' Alan continues to be the series' highlight with his simpleton behavior and random non-sequiturs yet there's a noticeable lack of quotable dialogue from the character, a sign of how dried up the creative well has become. Ken Jeong plays the same outlandish Chinese/homosexual stereotype from the previous entries but the actor ratchets up the crazy to eleven. Justin Bartha is once again pushed to the sidelines while John Goodman's Marshall is simply wasted. Mike Epps and Heather Graham pop up briefly, with Graham reduced to serving up exposition. Melissa McCarthy is the only cast member to leave an impression despite having no more than ten minutes of screen-time.

"The Hangover Part III" was released on May 23, 2013 to overwhelmingly negative reviews with 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. Although critics admired it for diverging 'from the series' rote formula, [it] offers nothing compelling in its place.' Despite opening a day ahead of "Fast and Furious 6," the film has failed to drum up much excitement and will finish with $54 million over Memorial Day weekend, a far cry from the $135 million tally of "Part II." The tepid response from audiences was in stark contrast to the enthusiasm shown from Tuesday's advance screening. "The Hangover Part III" offers a few scattered laughs but is ultimately not a return to form for the series. The problem with this franchise is that it was borne out of studio mandate and that proved to be its undoing. It just goes to show that no matter how hard you try, you can't make lightening strike multiple times.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

"Did you know your name used to be Carlos? I think it suits you better."

Make sure to stay during the end credits for a hilarious scene, by far the funniest moment in the entire film!